Re: Can we talk about Engagement Rings?

That's what my ring looks like. My hubby got it from Blue Nile. I never wear it, or my wedding ring. My hubby doesn't wear his ring either. After the ink dried on the marriage certificate, as it were, we knew we were married and we're the only two people who really care about that fact

Rings are pretty things we trot out for big events, like anniversaries and what not, but honestly, we both hate wearing jewelry, which is why we opted for simple. But I personally hated having random people gawk at my rings and ask me questions. Besides, I love the raised eyebrows I get when people find out I am married.

Re: Can we talk about Engagement Rings?

My fiance (now husband) and I mined our own stone. I don't know how I came up with that crazy idea, but once I thought of it, it had to be done! LOL We contacted a local geology club, and they were planning a rockhounding trip to a nearby quarry. That's where we found the stone. It's called a rhodochrosite.

My husband then found a nearby lapidary workshop and learned lapidary skills from scratch so he could cut and polish the stone.

The setting was made by a local jeweler. I wanted a flat ring so it wouldn't catch on things, and I chose palladium as the metal because I'm allergic to nickel, and nickel is often added to other metals like gold or silver. I recommend a nickel allergy test, and if you're allergic to nickel, make sure you ask specifically whether the ring has nickel.

Here are pictures of the raw stone and the finished ring. The color of the ring isn't showing well, at least on my monitor. It's a deep pink in real life.

We made more than one rockhounding trip even though we ended up using a stone found toward the beginning of the first one LOL. On another trip we found agate stones, and he made pendants out of them. I'm not sure if the rock in the picture is one of the rocks used for the pendants, but it gives you an idea. The dime is there to show you the size. I wear one of the pendants as a necklace and get compliments about it all the time.

The experience was really time-intensive, and it cost probably more than a thousand dollars because we took more than one rockhounding trip, including a trip a bit away from where we lived, requiring us to stay 2 nights in a motel. But I loved the experience, and we both learned a lot!

Re: Can we talk about Engagement Rings?

It was a one-time project. After the ring was made, our attention shifted to planning for the wedding. Two months after the wedding, we graduated and no longer had flexible schedules that would permit going to the lapidary workshop during "business hours" nor whole weeks off in December and March. Then we moved across the country, and there are no lapidary workshops within 2 hours of here (and no Sephoras either!).

But this thread has made me want to plan our next vacation to include rockhounding!

Re: Can we talk about Engagement Rings?

I love this! That is so romantic of your husband to take the time and do that!!!!

I have had several stones cut from our mining trips, but never got around to getting them set. I have a couple rubies and sapphires but I just don't know what I want to do with them. I need to hop over to etsy and get some ideas I guess. Your ring is really pretty!!!